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Also, taxes are higher percentage-wise today vs. 1976.
Are you sure about that?
in 1977, Michigan Income tax was 4.6%. Now it's 4.25%
In 1977, the federal Income tax was 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%, 19%, 22%, 25%, 28%, 32%, 36%, 39%, 42%, 45%, 48%, 50%, 53%, 55%, 58%, 60%, 62%, 64%, 66%, 68%, 69%, and 70%. Now, it ranges from 10% to 39%.
Any way you cut it, tax rates are much less today than in 76/77.
Have you ever bought books in a college bookstore? I still remember my calculus book. Twenty-two chapters and we only went through the first 6 in that semester. Next semester, we had to buy a new book because the math had been "updated". Really? Like there's something new to learn in calculus every 4 months? We are learning the same calculus people in 1950 learned. We just don't use slide rulers anymore.
Cost of first book: $75
Cost of 2nd book: $85
Now why on earth can't they just print a book for the first 6 - OK, 10 chapters? Is there any book printer out there who talks to the teachers? Is it such a hard thing to do? I have "wasted" approximately several thousand dollars on books that were never finished in class. And this was during the early nineties. Yes, it's just a small drop in the bucket, but multiply that by the number of students in all community colleges and universities and it adds up to a substantial amount.
Then there's the matter of name brand colleges. You can get a perfectly good education at San Jose State University, for example, vs. Stanford. But which one do you think is going to charge more. There is a myth concerning colleges that the more you pay, the more you will learn. This is hogwash, but we've all bought into it, professors, students, parents, and employers alike. It's the reason you're going to pay thousands and thousands of dollars more to go to a "name" university. Now you tell me, why should there be such a difference in tuition between colleges when you are taught the same thing at both of them.
And none of the above has anything to do with inflation. What it does have is lining the deep pockets of someone out to make a killing on education at the expense of the students, AND the government if those students take out student loans.
You didn't have to go through a long explanation proving that you don't understand what inflation is. A simple "no" would have been perfectly fine.
If you give free college to anyone, including those who are inadequate for higher education, you create inflation.
in 1977, Michigan Income tax was 4.6%. Now it's 4.25%
In 1977, the federal Income tax was 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%, 19%, 22%, 25%, 28%, 32%, 36%, 39%, 42%, 45%, 48%, 50%, 53%, 55%, 58%, 60%, 62%, 64%, 66%, 68%, 69%, and 70%. Now, it ranges from 10% to 39%.
Any way you cut it, tax rates are much less today than in 76/77.
Higher sales tax now.
Higher Social Security taxes now
Higher federal taxes now.
Higher gas taxes now.
Far fewer state and federal income tax deductions now (for the middle class). Nobody ever payed the top tax rates in the 70s due to all the deductions.
Most states have a state tax. And I'd bet a bunny to a badger that state tax today is higher than it's ever been before.
Michigan did not have a state income tax until 1965, but somehow state college tuition was affordable. Also, Michigan's state sales tax was lower in 1965 than it is today.
Shouldn't you be in philosophy class or making someone a Big Mac?
Who tinkled in your cereal this morning?
When your kid gets to high school, who do you want to teach him chemistry - a chemistry teacher or the gym teacher? High schools today want math and science teachers and they're not getting them. Maybe because, like me, they said, screw the tuition, I'll go into another line of work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
You didn't have to go through a long explanation proving that you don't understand what inflation is. A simple "no" would have been perfectly fine.
If you give free college to anyone, including those who are inadequate for higher education, you create inflation.
In California, tuition was free at the universities until the 80s when Ronald Reagan decided to start charging. And tuition was free at the community college level until the early 90s.
Somehow I fail to see inflation then was worse than it is now.
And as I said, you need trade schools if you are going to make college free. I agree, not everybody is college material. So if you are going to make the colleges free, then you have to have some sort of vocational training for people who should not be college bound. Otherwise you will have people in college who can't or don't want to do college work clogging up the system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rodentraiser
And I'm one who wants college free for anyone who wants to attend!
I figure the more people with degrees, the more money they make, the more taxes they pay, and the more money they put into circulation. But I have always said you can't go tuition free without also opening trade schools.
More to the point, I've heard many, many people in science, engineering, and physics wondering where the next generation of scientists, engineers, and physicists are going to come from, since so many students can't afford college these days. I've also heard them say that if they had had to pay the equivalent of what students are being asked to pay today, they themselves would never have been able to afford to attend college. The US is already sliding behind other countries when it comes to the hard sciences. Many of our students today come from overseas and then go home when they've got their degrees. We actually have the best educational system in the world when it comes to colleges, just not for American students.
In California, tuition was free at the universities until the 80s when Ronald Reagan decided to start charging. And tuition was free at the community college level until the early 90s.
The cost of many goods and services went down during the recession of 2008/9, but not tuition.
But not all goods and services did, so that's only a partial rebuttal at best.
If you look at the public colleges/univ's, state budgets and funding to higher education generally took a big hit. In an environment with declining state support those institutions become more reliant on tuition revenue to operate.
If you look at the privates, many of them rely on endowment cashflow to make budget, and endowments took a big hit when stock markets tanked. In many cases schools made their finances "worse" for the short term by scaling back even the percentage they were willing to draw off the endowment, so the net draws were in many cases significantly cut.
At the same time, in many cases they were facing much needier student populations than they'd planned. So tuition sticker price rises.
Inflation matters, but the cost of college is a tricky beast with lots of factors going into both the sticker price and the net price.
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